


Synthetic Animals Like Me Never Have A Home (Rewritten)

by Aubrie1234



Series: Through Fortune and Flame [2]
Category: Bandom, Ben 10 Series, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Characters have Ben 10 roles, M/M, MCR's return happened in 2016, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, This is a different approach than the original version
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22093315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aubrie1234/pseuds/Aubrie1234
Summary: Frank and Ray thought they knew everything about Gerard and Mikey, but even now, they still find surprises. Though the Ways don't want them to know, Frank and Ray still figure things out and maybe it's for the best, because you can't keep a secret like this forever, can you? But is it worth it if it puts everything you used to know at risk, even those you love and care for?"I never wanted you to know because I wanted to protect you.""I can handle myself!""Not around these things. Please, just trust me and do as I say. And after this... after this, just forget everything that happened here.""Why? This is amazing, why should I forget?""It's for your own good." There was a kiss planted on his lips before his boyfriend disappeared.(This is the REWRITTEN version)
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way, Ray Toro/Mikey Way
Series: Through Fortune and Flame [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1572706
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Synthetic Animals Like Me Never Have A Home (Rewritten)

Frank was reading a magazine as he waited for Gerard to come out of the bathroom when he chanced to look up at the news. Another bank robbery, another monster coming to stop it. There had been a whole group of them appearing over the years, all different, but they could all speak English and did everything they could to stop evil things in the world, like robberies and alien invasions (which had almost happened if not for the monsters, true story). As it was, the robbery was in Delaware, not far from the border with NJ, and it looked like the fast monster was dealing with the robbers. It called itself XLR8 and looked like a lizard man on wheels, mostly black but with red and purple highlights, a watch on its chest, and a blue tail and face. It literally ran circles around the robbers, leaving a blur in its wake as it tied them up, breaking their guns under the black balls on its feet before zooming away, leaving the police to deal with the robbers.

_ If only they could solve everything. _ Frank thought, going back to the magazine. It was at that moment Gerard stepped out of the bathroom.

“Ugh, they were out of paper towels.” complained the singer, holding his wet hands and shaking them a little to dry them, “Not even one of those air dryers!”

“Well, you just missed XLR8 beating up some robbers.” Frank jerked his thumb at the TV, where officers could be seen apprehending the criminals.

“Eh, he’s too flashy for me.” Frank put the magazine aside as he stood to join Gerard. They began walking away from the bathroom and back to the venue where they would be performing in an hour.

“How do you know it’s a he?”

“I’ve just got a feeling.” Gerard smiled at him, “Ready for the show?”

“Yeah, but then I had to babysit you, so maybe I need a little more time to get hyped up again.”

“Like this?” Gerard put an arm around Frank, resting his hand on the guitarist’s waist. Frank grinned.

“Yeah, just like that.” He leaned up and Gerard met him halfway, kissing his lips. It wasn’t long, but it also wasn’t the kind of kiss that would make you feel like you wanna get fucked right then and there. It was sweet and gentle and then Gerard was pulling away. Frank pouted.

“Too short.”

“You or the kiss?”

“Fuck off.” Frank punched his arm and Gerard rubbed it in mock hurt, having to let go of Frank to do so. He was rubbing his arm with his left hand and, around his wrist, was the weird watch he seemed to love. It had a white and purple metal strap, red sides around the face, spikes on the sides, and a purple and black face shaped like an hourglass. It couldn’t tell time but Gerard never took it off, not even asleep, and so Frank had asked a few questions about it, but Gerard’s responses always seemed to be lacking. It was like asking Twenty One Pilots how they met, you always got a different answer and never knew if they were telling the truth or not.. At least it looked moderately cool. Eventually he’d stopped asking and left it alone, especially after Gerard had gotten pissed when he’d tried to mess with it once. All he’d done was poke the watch a few times, twist the face, trying to figure it out, but then Gerard had jerked his arm away and tore into Frank like he’d been just caught dating someone else behind the singer’s back. Frank hadn’t tried since, though he was still curious. As it was, he started walking off again and Gerard went after him. Frank took his apologies in stride, not really mad at all, and they continued on their way.

* * *

After the show, the bus was heading west, right into Pennsylvania and to their next show. Ever since their return in 2016, they’d been on the move for some time. They’d managed to take a break for the majority of 2018, but now they were at it again, especially with their upcoming world tour. At least it helped that they were all together again and had their own people in their lives, travelling with them. Frank had Gerard, Mikey had Ray. They’d gotten their shit together during their break and now they didn’t have to worry about long-distance relationships. Frank couldn’t help but feel a little anxious sometimes, however. They were supposed to know everything about each other, but he would probably never learn the mystery of Gerard’s watch or Mikey’s ‘bag of tricks,’ he called it. It was a small purse-like bag he kept wrapped around his body with a face design, the mouth as its zipper. Frank was convinced that it was literally bottomless, as it was so small but Mikey seemed to put everything he had inside it. But like Gerard, Mikey was protective of his bag and didn’t anyone mess with it. And Ray, unlike Frank, respected Mikey’s privacy and never messed with the bag. Frank wanted to call bullshit on that but kept his words to himself. No need to have two Ways angry at him for any reason. One was scary enough.

“Hey, you want anything?”

“Huh?” Frank, who had been reading, looked up at Gerard. Outside it was dark, night having fallen quickly, and they were parked at a store.

“The bus is getting gas, you want any food?”

“Not unless they have good vegetarian options.” Frank went back to his book, resigning himself to Gerard not being able to find anything. A few minutes passed before Gerard returned, carrying a sandwich.

“I found this, try it.” Gerard handed it to his boyfriend before taking a seat beside Frank. The smaller man raised an eyebrow but unwrapped the sandwich and bit into it. To his surprise, it actually tasted really good.

“Mmm!” he exclaimed. Gerard smiled.

“Glad you like it.” The singer took out a small bag of sunflower seeds and began munching on them.

“I didn’t know you liked sunflower seeds.”

“It’s a craving I get sometimes.” Gerard admitted, “You’ve known me for how long now?”

“Shut it.” Frank went back to his sandwich. He’d seen Gerard eat seeds before, but these were right off the flower, freshly plucked, never processed or anything. This was the first time he’d seen Gerard eat these kinds of seeds. He shrugged to himself. If Gerard got sick or something, it was his fault. Frank wasn’t gonna say anything. Shortly after that, Ray and Mikey came back on the bus after their own foodie run and the bus was moving again. As Mikey headed back to the bunks to get an early nap, Ray spotted them and frowned, as if confused. Frank raised his eyebrow again to ask what Ray was confused about. When the other man said nothing and followed Mikey back to the bunks, Frank frowned.

“Hey, I think I’m gonna head back to bed early.” He kissed Gerard’s cheek, “‘Night. Don’t stay up too late.”

“Can’t promise anything.” said Gerard but he stayed on the couch. Frank followed Ray and grabbed his arm as soon as he was close enough.

“Something wrong?”

“No.” Ray shook his head, but Frank could tell he was lying. Ray was biting his lip, a sure sign he was bothered by something, and Frank’s tolerance for lying was almost as short as he was, with a few exceptions.

“C’mon, dude, you can tell me. Something going on with Mikey?”

“No, nothing like that, just...” Ray glanced to the side, “Promise not to tell Gerard?” Frank blinked.

“Sure, but why? What’s going on?”

“Your sandwich, there was nothing like it on the menu, so I don’t know where Gerard got it. I didn’t see him in the store with us, either.”

“Probably just didn’t see him.” Frank said, but he didn’t have much of an excuse for the sandwich. It had tasted fresh, certainly, so maybe… “Maybe he got the last one?”

“It’s possible.” Ray didn’t seem convinced, however, but Frank let it go. Gerard did weird things sometimes, and if it was to make Frank happy, he didn’t mind. Later that night, as they were trying to fall asleep, Frank, who was almost there, was startled awake somewhat by some noise. He turned over, trying to get more awake, and heard someone talking. It was the Way brothers and they weren’t in the bunks. Curious, Frank crawled out of his bunk and went back towards the lounge area. He didn’t enter, keeping just in the shadows of the doorway, and could hear Mikey and Gerard speaking quietly. He wondered how he’d managed to hear them in the first place, then let it go. He listened to what they were saying.

“...shouldn’t have done that.” Mikey was saying, “Bet you freaked out a lot of people.”

“Not that much. I was able to grab everything except the bread and so I had to pay for it at a Subway.”

“As-?”

“No no no, I went in as a normal person, and as soon as I had the bread, I left.”

“And the sunflower seeds? Cravings strike again?”

“Well, I had to become him twice in a day, he gets hungry.”

“Why are you like this.” Mikey sounded exasperated. Frank frowned. What were they even talking about? He rubbed his eyes. Maybe he was dreaming all this.

“Are you gonna get any sleep tonight?” Mikey continued.

“I don’t know. Do you mind-?”

“Sure, no problem.  _ Sopor _ .” Frank peeked his head around the corner, curious. In Mikey’s hand was a pocket-sized book and the other was glowing with a red light, which then flicked what looked like dust into Gerard’s eyes. Immediately the singer yawned and rubbed his eyes.

“Man, that stuff works wonders.” The glowing from Mikey’s hand stopped and he put the book in his bag.

“You’ll be asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow. Goodnight, Gee.”

“You too.” The brothers got up and Frank rushed back to his bunk, as quietly and quickly as possible. He made it just in time and after Gerard was snoring away and Mikey was in his bunk, Frank let out the breath he was holding. How did this make any sense? What had just happened? He rubbed his eyes. He needed sleep and then maybe things would clear up.

* * *

The next morning, when Frank got up, he barely remembered what had happened the night before. He had the lingering feeling that it had something to do with Gerard and Mikey, but he couldn’t remember what it was. Mikey had put something in his bag, though, so maybe if he could find it, it could jog his memory. But then again, did he really want Mikey pissed at him? The risk could be worth it and he’d always wanted to know what Mikey kept in his bag. So he set his sights on getting the bag and figuring out why he couldn’t remember what happened that night.

When they stopped in West Mifflin for a hotel night, Frank decided to take his chance. It wasn’t far from Pittsburgh and that was where their next show was going to be, so he only had tonight to do this. It would probably be a while before he had another chance. As it was, sleeping arrangements were with their boyfriends, so Gerard was with Frank while Ray was with Mikey. This would make things harder but Frank didn’t want to give anything away. He knew Ray wouldn’t go along with this and neither would Gerard so he had to make sure no one caught him or caught on to what he was doing.

“Hey, something wrong?” Frank, who had been staring out the window of the bus, blinked and turned to Gerard.

“What?”

“You’ve been quiet and stuff. Is something wrong?” Frank shook his head.

“No, just thinking.” He gave Gerard a smile. The singer smiled back but Frank could tell that Gerard didn’t buy it. The older man would be keeping an eye on him tonight and he didn’t need that, “Really, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

“You can tell me anything, right? I’m here for you and I love you.” Gerard murmured, smile dropping, “Just trust me.”

“I know.” Frank turned and kissed his boyfriend. Pulling back, he went on, “But this is something only I can deal with. I trust you, but this isn’t something you need to know.”

“...Alright.” Gerard nodded. He still didn’t look too convinced but left it alone. A few minutes later they pulled up to the hotel and brought in their things, going to their rooms. A large bed, a dresser, and maybe a TV, and that was it, but it was all they would need. Ray poked his head into the room as Frank was stuffing his suitcase under the bed.

“You guys wanna go on a double-date with us?” asked Ray. Gerard looked up from messing with the TV remote.

“What do you say, Frank?”

“I’m not up for it tonight.” Frank shook his head. This wasn’t what he wanted, Mikey would be taking his bag with him and there wouldn’t be any chance to check the bag at the restaurant. He’d have to wait until the others were asleep and sneak in, maybe. It wouldn’t be easy but each duo had a copy of the other room’s card, just in case. He still had a chance to do it. Gerard gave Ray a shrug.

“Sorry, dude. Have a good time.”

“Thanks. You too.” Ray winked before he left and Gerard blushed.

“We don’t do it  _ that _ much!”

“Hey, you can’t blame him.” Frank sat on the bed with the singer, “We were the first ones that got together even before we hit first base.”

“I guess.” Gerard said. Frank leaned against his boyfriend and Gerard lifted an arm to curl around the guitarist. Once they settled on a  _ Twilight Zone _ marathon, they settled back on the bed to watch. With his head resting on Gerard’s chest, Frank could hear the other’s heartbeat clearly, as well as he could understand a guitar riff. It made him smile and close his eyes, content to have such a wonderful person so close to him.

* * *

He blinked open his eyes. He hadn’t even realized he’d fallen asleep. The TV was still showing the marathon as Gerard softly snored beside him, phone in hand. Frank reached over and tapped the screen, wanting to check the notifications. There was a text from Ray, saying that he and Mikey had returned, and there was a response from Gerard. That meant Mikey was back and Frank could try to check the bag tonight, especially since it was past midnight. Slowly, he moved out of Gerard’s grip, replacing it with a pillow. Gerard murmured for a moment before snuggling into the pillow, pulling it closer. Frank smiled before heading to the door and into the hallway. Mikey and Ray’s room was just down the hall. He had the door open and slipped in, prowling about like a cat. This was not the first time he had snooped through his friends’ stuff, he knew what he was doing. Listening closely for snores, he could see both of his friends asleep in bed. Sitting on top of the dresser was Mikey’s bag. Slowly, quietly, he moved to it and took hold of the zipper. Because of the face design, the zipper followed along the lines of the teeth, going up and down repeatedly. Once it was fully open, Frank reached inside, but found nothing. There was certainly a bottom to the bag but it had nothing inside, even though Frank knew for certain that the younger Way kept his wallet and other things in it.

Pulling his hand out and zipping it up, Frank resisted the urge to sigh and returned to his room. He’d learned nothing in this endeavor except for the fact that one, it wasn’t bottomless, and two, this was giving more mysteries than it was solving. When he was back in his room, he found Gerard still asleep. He crawled back into the space of Gerard’s arms, replacing the pillow and disturbing the singer.

“Frankie?” He opened an eye.

“Just went to the bathroom.” Frank reached up to close Gerard’s eye, “You don’t get much sleep, go back to it.”

“Okay...” Once Gerard’s breathing evened out again, Frank reached for the remote and turned off the TV. It was already dark so he had no lights to turn off, only falling asleep once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sopor = Latin for ‘sleep’ (Google Translate)
> 
> Link to Gerard's watch design (hasn't changed from the original): https://www.deviantart.com/aubrie1234/art/Negatrix-721607567


End file.
